New NB business a ‘paradise’ for e-cigarette users

Published September 11, 2013 at 9:41 am

Vapers Paradise employee Robley Liebelt helps a pair of customers select new e-cigarettes. Liebelt has been using e-cigarettes for about four months and said he hasn’t smoked a cigarette during that time.Photos byDerrick Knutson

When a customer walks into Vapers Paradise in North Branch, the first thing he or she might notice is the smell — there really isn’t one.

This new business located at 6118 Main St. might look like a smoke shop from the outside, but it’s not.

Owners Josef Krnavek and Robert Waldron are in the business of selling e-cigarettes and supplies and have been running Vapers Paradise for about two months.

E-cigarettes are electronic devises that employ the use of a small motor to vaporize liquids that contain varying levels of nicotine.

Users then inhale that vapor.

For some, e-cigarettes have allowed them to quit smoking entirely.

Krnavek said he started out using an older, less-effective version of the e-cigarette, which worked for a while, but he eventually found himself sneaking cigarettes again.

However, as the e-cigarette technology has advanced, Krnavek has found he gets more satisfaction out of them.

He’s been smoke free for about eight months.
Vapers Paradise has dozens of “juice” flavors to choose from.

“Eight months ago, the product wasn’t as good as it is today,” he said. “They’re doing changes and improvements on a daily basis.”

Krnavek noted e-cigarette users can control how much nicotine they’re inhaling by purchasing “juice” tanks of different potencies.

For those who just have the physical addiction of inhaling something and think they can go without the nicotine, there’s even a zero-nicotine tank.

Krnavek noted nicotine is the main drug in cigarettes, but e-cigarettes are a safer option because they don’t have the 4,000 other chemicals cigarettes contain.

Krnavek added some e-cigarette users might “get bored” with having the same vapor flavor all the time, which is why Vapers Paradise offers more than 100 flavors, like spearmint, strawberry and red licorice.

No more smoke breaks

Krnavek, who also owns the Joe’s on Main restaurants in North Branch and Cambridge with his wife, said e-cigarettes can be a good way to increase productivity at work.

“Smokers are addicts, and we always look for the justification to go out on break,” he said. “If it’s a hard day and a lot of work, we want to go outside on break. When you have to work four or five hours before a smoke break, people get crabby and inefficient.”

Most employers don’t allow smokers to light up inside, but e-cigarettes provide an alternative that could resonate better with employers, according to Krnavek.

“When I was working at Joe’s, I didn’t have to go outside every hour and have a smoke break,” he said. “I could puff it in the kitchen and keep working. It would make my workday less stressful.”

Committed to the

product

Krnavek admitted people have to be committed to using e-cigarettes for them to work and it’s not exactly like smoking cigarettes. If users want them to taste and feel exactly like cigarettes, they’re likely going to be disappointed.

But for those who want to quit smoking without entirely giving up nicotine, e-cigarettes could be the answer.

He also said using e-cigarettes is considerably cheaper than smoking, and those who have stuck with the product have saved thousands of dollars over the course of a year.

However, e-cigarettes are not an FDA-regulated product, and since they’re so new, no long-term studies have been conducted about potential adverse health effects.

Krnavek added that he and his staff work with customers to pair them with the products that will hopefully work for them.

“We’re here to educate,” he said. “We want people to be successful.”

For those who have questions about e-cigarettes, contact Vapers Paradise at 651-243-5171.